The statement that every site requires administration, the more true, the less quality it is made. If you ordered a website page on which nothing ever changes, then the maximum that he may need is a correction when changing the hosting conditions or transferring to another hosting.
If the site is a store, search engine or other option that can change its content and / or functioning algorithms, then we can talk about both periodic maintenance and ongoing administration.
Website Functioning
A web resource can be located in any application, and the experience of similar resources allows you to determine its functionality, which includes the site administration system.
The developer at the request of the customer or on his own initiative can perform work based on the popular site management system (CMS). This is a common practice. Most often, the customer insists on this way of creating the site.
Over the past years, numerous "craftsmen" have created firm confidence among customers that it is better to focus on the popular CMS than on an independent "work" of a lone author who can always suddenly "disappear", and there are no people who want to refine the product he created.
This problem worries web studios, but in the context of unexpectedly disappearing employees and a job guarantee that can be continued by another employee.
Development based on any popular CMS almost always has a built-in site administration panel, with which all the work is done.
Often you have to modify something to the functionality of the CMS, but, as a rule, the developers of CMS have come to terms with this. Usually, the necessary improvements are made easily, they are simply built in, and when updating the content management system itself, it does not disappear.
Site Administration
When using CMS with the help of installation, a site is actually created. Some systems allow the support of several sites on one engine, but usually there is support for one hosting, one CMS and one site - this is more reliable and safer.
Actually, administration begins from this. The developer adjusts the CMS to the desired appearance, determines the use of standard modules (products, tables, payment systems, blogs, comments, etc.). Modern CMS are actually ready-made sites, you only need to finalize the appearance and configure the functionality.
In fact, the initial stage (installation, operation and administration of the site) is the process of creating the site. Usually it takes several hours, but for the best result web studios take a couple of days, in extreme cases a couple of weeks.
After the site began to function, the customer can administer the site on their own, but for some time this is undesirable. It is better if at first the site will work under the control of the developer, at least until the moment when the customer selects an employee and he learns the necessary skills.
Website Maintenance
Website maintenance is a broader concept than its administration. At the backup level and basic system functions for security purposes, quick recovery in case of failure, transfer to another hosting, etc. Maintenance is usually included in the site administration provided by the CMS.
But there is a special hosting administration panel - this is very important for the normal functioning of the web resource, regardless of the CMS used.
The creation and administration of sites is a constant and direct contact with the hoster, that is, with an organization that provides the site owner with a platform for hosting it.
Practice shows that these types of contacts are established at web studios, which often provide their own hosting services to customers, saving them from solving not-so-clear tasks.
Site Administration Overview
Website administration is not a difficult job. Any employee of the customer can manage here. It is not more complicated than MS Excel or MS Word. Perhaps a special requirement for accuracy and care should be noted. It is important to pay attention to the inability to roll back actions. Often, it is simply impossible to return all the changes made to the original position, you have to restore a copy of the site.
Even the appearance and functionality of the site can be changed during the work, it does not require special qualifications of the employee or the need to contact the web studio for help.
Some CMS provide for administration purposes blocking the site from visitors or its limited use. The customer can put the site into the "Maintenance" mode, and all guests will see a warning.
Changing the content and functionality of the site is the main content of the process of its administration. The full range of site administration actions depends on the CMS used. At the same time, it is important to understand that any content management system is focused on sites of a certain direction and certain functionality, therefore it carries the experience of specific developments.
CMS: choice of functionality and administration
You can use CMS focused on online stores to create search engines, but the choice of specialized CMS will be more promising both in terms of site administration, and in the context of the required functionality.
It should be borne in mind that whatever the CMS, it is always open to third-party intervention. Some CMSs include encryption of the source code, but this is considered a vicious practice and is applied in specific areas where special conditions apply to security requirements.
Practice shows that site administration often goes beyond the CMS admin panel. Simply put, the specifics of the scope may require the mandatory implementation of what does not provide the functionality of the CMS, as a result of which the desired action is absent in the administration panel.
As a general rule, the customer can take over the administration of the site or entrust it to his employee, but it is still undesirable to lose contact with the web studio.
Human Factor and Administration
Creation and administration of sites carries three serious tasks that the customer must solve before making the choice of the developer.
- level of own competence;
- level of functionality of the desired site;
- web studio (developer) stability level .
Only when all three positions are at the highest level, will at least 50% of the desired be achieved. The IT industry is growing too fast. Having your own website means having your own development and administration team or a third-party web studio in partners.
In any case, the factor of trust is important. A site is, first of all, a team that creates it, accompanies it and constantly takes care of it. This can only be called administration, but in order for a site to dynamically develop in its area of competence, you need to take care of it. This point is somewhat different from pure administration and maintenance.